Way back in November, back when I was young and carefree, I wrote about how to find your car’s miles per gallon. Back then I got 29.5 mpg, which is not too shabby, but by gumbo, I wanted to save some money on gas. Recently, I found some simple ways to increase my car’s fuel efficiency. By following these three simple tips, I’ve increased my horseless carriage’s miles per gallon up to a whopping 36 mpg (about a 22% improvement).

How to Improve Your Car’s Fuel Efficiency

1. Easy on the acceleration – when the light turns green, slowly ease down the gas pedal. No need to burn rubber, just accelerate slowly and steadily. This makes a big difference in improving fuel efficiency.
2. Don’t idle for over a minute – if you’re at a stoplight where you know you’ll be waiting for over a minute, just turn your car off. When the light is about to turn green, turn your car back on. Only do this at stops that you’re very familiar with, and where you know you’ll be waiting for over a minute.
3. Drive your optimal speed
   
   Believe it or not, driving at 70mph on a highway or belt-line is not very fuel efficient. For most cars, the optimal speed is 40-60 mph. Yes, lots of cars will pass you. Stay in the slow lane to let them. They are just wasting their gas (and money).

By following these oh-so-handy tips, I only use about 80% the gas that I used to use. That means I’m saving about 20% in gas money, which these days is a big chunk o’ change. So help out your wallet and the good ol’ environment, and don’t drive like a maniac.

Here’s a really easy way to get a free CFL bulb.

• Go to rotch HERE
• Fill out the short form (use “EARNRWG” as the promo code)
• Immediately sprint to your mailbox and wait for several weeks

Have fun with that free light bulb. Not only will you be saving money by getting a free CFL, but you’ll also be saving money by using a more efficient light bulb. Remember, even though it saves a lot of energy, it’s not all good. If it breaks, I do not recommend sniffing the fumes that come out. Instead, follow these here guidelines on how to clean up a broken CFL bulb.

There you stand, in the grocery store, wishing that you had enough money to get you some of those crazy expensive protein bars. Sadly, you turn away, lamenting your puny muscles, wishing that there was some way to get protein bars without all the extra packaging and high prices. Well pay attention, for here is how to…

Make Your Own Protein Bars

Thanks to Krista’s protein bar recipe, I was able to make some protein bars of my own. Follow along with this picture essay, and you will learn the secrets of how to make some cheap, homemade protein bars.Here are the ingredients. If you want to use some eco-friendly protein powder, or organic bananas, or what have you, then by all means do. I opted for the cheapest ingredients for this demonstration.

• Banana
• Whey protein
• Oats
• Peanut butter
• Raw Peanuts (optional)

READ MORE »

This is a perfect example of how saving money and helping the environment can go together. When you reuse something, you save money and help conserve resources. Anyhoo, without further ado, I present some good sites for saving money and getting some free reused stuff.

This here site has a good “free” section for most cities. There are all kinds of things being offered for free here. You don’t have to register to browse through the list of reused things, so feel free to head over right now and see what’s available for free in your area.

I just joined this site a couple days ago, and it’s a bit stricter than craigslist. This has its pros and cons. Some cons are that you have to be registered in a group, and that a moderator has to approve of a post to the message board before it is shown. Some pros are that you can post “Wanted” ads, and that you can be sure that any message you see has the seal of approval from a moderator.To get started, search for a group in your area, and sign up. You’ll be reusing and giving away unwanted items in no time.

This last one doesn’t involve reusing things; instead, i’s just a good place to get lots and lots of free samples of all kinds of things, such as food, drinks, shirts, and more. Just go to the site, click “Free Goods”, and you’ll be transported to a magical world of free samples. Not quite as dependable as craigslist or freecycle (sometimes the samples never arrive :(), but the price is right.

Besides these websites, you can always go to a local thrift store and donate any unwanted items that you have.  If anyone knows of any other good websites for getting free, used things, por favor let me know.

Far too often, when people hear the terms “eco-friendly” or “green“, they think of “tree-hugging liberals”. Even in the news, environmental ideas are touted (or degraded) because of perceived connections with “the far left”. This is bad logic, to think that only Starbucks-drinking, Mac-blogging, futuristic-glasses-wearing eco-hipsters (and hippies) care about the environment. Why must people be lumped into either Conservatives or Liberals? I guarantee you that the vast majority of people, whether they know it or not, have a mix of opinions that have elements of liberalism, conservatism, and perhaps even joeism.

Apolitical Reasons to Live Greener

• It saves money. By using resources more efficiently, we spend less money. Better miles per gallon = save money on gas, better insulation = save money on heating/air conditioning, etc.
• Makes our country stronger. USA #1!!!! By investing in research in alternative energy (solar, wind, tidal), the good ol’ U.S.A. can help supply its growing energy-needs while cutting energy costs. Plus, we won’t be sending a bajillion dollars to such repressive regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Mr. Chavez.
• Leave the world in good shape for the future. Everyone wants their kids (and grandkids) to live in a t-riffic world. By conserving wetlands, forests, and nature in general, we can bequeath a pristine Earth for future generations.

Since most of y’all probably stopped reading awhile ago, I’ll cut this short and stop here. Let me know if you think of other non-political reasons for gettin’ green.

Earthships are houses made with discarded tires, bottles, and cans, put together with lots of dirt. Many of them are self-sufficient, creating their own energy, and capturing their own rain-water. Since they’re made from reused/free materials, and supply their own electricity, heating, and water, they help conserve natural resources while also saving chunks of money. I’m down for anything that helps the environment AND saves me some dinero.

But I digress. I now present to you, courtesy of Earthship.net, “Earthships 101”.

Earthships 101: Part One:

Earthships 101: Part Deux

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Dang I want one.

Amory Lovins, who won a MacArthur Genius grant back in 1993 (and an Eco-Hero Award just right now), has been living in a house he built since 1983. It looks like a very nice and comfy house, especially when you consider that, despite living 7,000 feet up in the Rocky Mountains (where it gets pretty dang cold), he pays $0 a year on his heating. Not only that, but his house actually generates more electricity than he needs — so he sells the surplus energy to the power company for some extra cash. Here are three ways to cut your electric bill like crazy.

CLICK HERE TO SEE AN INFORMATIVE YET FUN YET NEAT VIDEO OF HIS HOUSE

Insulate, Insulate, Insulate

His secret (one of them) is that he designed his house to be very well insulated. His walls are 16 inches thick, and his large super-insulated windows (made with special glass that insulates as well as 14 normal panes of glass) mean that his house can retain heat quite well.

Passive and Active Solar Heating

Lovins’ house is heated in two main ways: both from sun-rays passing through his many windows, or by means of Amory’s solar panels, which supply his house with more energy than it even uses.

Energy-Efficient Appliances

Much of Lovins’ house is naturally lit by the sun. Besides that, motion-detector lights and energy-efficient bulbs help to cut down on electricity use. His fridge is thickly-insulated, which reduces its energy consumption by quite a lot. His dryer is solar powered, and looks like it uses no electricity at all (watch the video to see how).

Amory Lovins’ home took some extra thought to design and build. It also cost a little bit extra ($6,000). But by cutting his power bill to zero, the extra planning and money spent were easily worth it. If more and more contractors start building this way, you could kiss our “oil prices” and “energy crisis” problems good-bye.

Thankee to Sam for telling me about this homey